Saturday, June 13, 2009

Woo. Long review. But, first blog review for this book! (That's actually the reason you're seeing this so early. Give it a couple of months and EVERYONE will be reviewing it.)

There’s something almost seductive about the title, isn’t there? It kind of dares you to pick the book up.

Anyway. It all begins when Coach--he who teaches biology--forces Nora, a straight-A student, to switch lab partners and she suddenly finds herself opposite of Patch, a mysterious-seeming senior. At the same time, things are going terribly awry. Nora’s sure she’s being followed. Her room’s ransacked. And everywhere she turns, Patch is there, lips tugged in a smile, the face of confidence.

And he seems to know everything about her. At once she doesn’t know if she should succumb to his charms and run into his arms, or listen to her gut and run away from him. Whatever he wants, he’s not telling her. To escape his lure, Nora turns to the other boy vying for her attention, Elliot. But he’s not what he seems either, and the connection between him and Patch runs deeper and deadlier than she could know.

Basically? Nora’s stuck in the middle of a sinister game of revenge. Both Patch and Elliot seem to want something from her, and in a place where sides shift suddenly and unearthing hidden motives gives way to more secrets, Nora’s got some tough soul-searching ahead of her to figure out whom to trust--and not much time to get there.

The first chapter opens in biology class, with a Barbie doll and her Ken counterpart stripped naked and covered with leaves in strategic places. They’re about to start on the reproduction unit. Immature comments are shouted out and upfront and center we meet three integral characters: Nora, Vee (the BFF), and Patch. And so it begins, this journey with them, where at equal parts it feels like we’ve known them our whole lives (they’re well-written) and, especially where Patch is concerned, they keep us at the edge of our seats (again, they’re well written). And they shine.

Oh, but does Patch shine. Here’s your unabashedly cocky (anti?)hero, an absolute ass, and possibly all the more attractive for it. Not one thing that comes out of his mouth is predictable, except maybe predictably swaggering, and it’s that quality and his unwillingness to share part of his past that make him magnetic. It’s hard to say this without giving spoilers, but we see many, many sides of him, most of which are not goody-goody, which serve to make him one of the most complex and interesting characters in the book.

And the plot? What can I say about the plot so as to not give anything away? Well, it’s clever and hides surprises in the folds of its intricacies. Especially when you’ve got the pacing this book does, which makes five pages go by in no time, ten stretch into twenty, and fifty come and go in a snap. There’s actually even a scene at the very, very end where the plot turns in on itself and ties things up in a way I would usually hate but couldn’t here because I thought it was bright and fitting with the story.

Which doesn’t go to say this book is perfect. First up is a classic case of a useless character--in this case a bitchy cheerleader named Marcie--who dropped off the face of the earth and resulted in an unresolved plot thread. Second: For a proclaimed disciplined student, Nora lacked a certain amount of drive. Heroines without it are no-no to me. But, you know, she’s under constant threat. So we may see some redemptive ambition in the sequel. Here’s to hoping. Further, there’s a leap in the progression of the Nora/Patch dynamics that made things feel a bit too sudden and mistimed. (I’ll have more to say after it’s released.) And finally, I hate to be the one to compare yet another book to Twilight, but there were a couple of scenes that brought it to mind. Nothing formulaic or that made Hush, Hush unoriginal, and I’m not sure if the existence of said scenes is necessarily negative, but…I could do without the surges of déjà vu, y’know?

That said, it’s really hard to hold all of that against the book, though, when I recognize that, save for my minor complaints, this is exactly the type of thing I like to and want to read: dark and both relevant and whimsical, with memorable characters, great quotability, and abundant humor. Hush, Hush doesn’t stop at exciting--it was an experience so complete and enjoyable, it tides you over. It’s not hard to picture fandoms being built around it, copious fanfic taking up terabytes of space, or a movie being made. There’s just that special quality that makes it compulsive and turns willing readers loyal. A shoo-in for the best of 2009, obviously. A shoo-in for a lot more, actually, but I’ll stop here and observe how things will unfold.

I read somewhere that Ms Fitzpatrick worked on this book for five years and has over two thousand pages of deleted scenes to show for it. That’s a lot of dedication. And it worked: this is good. You gotta give it to her--she earned the buzz she’s been getting, which I’m sure is just the tip of the iceberg for what comes down the line. So, tell me, Becca, how does it feel?

The cover alone makes this one stand out. And what great typography on the title!

That said...I'm actually a little hesitant to get it. I teach high school kids and run the creative writing club. Which is just to say that I've been inundated with this kind of story. Since Twilight came out, I've avoided almost everything with that kind of angsty, the boy is really vampire/werewolf/supernatural, the girl is caught in the middle kind of story. Do you think this one really stands out as unique in that sort of genre?

your review of the book made me feel like I was in a nice dream that was starting to pick up the pace until I wake up and BAM-dream's gone. *head hangs* Auugh, I really want this book! You make it sound so tanatalizing, lol.

I am now doubly excited for this book. The title is amazing, because one of my favourite words is hush. The cover is gorgeous. And your review makes it sound great. The snarky anit-hero? Right up my alley. Thanks for the great review!

Great review! I'm jealous..Only thing is, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get over the fact that the guy's name is Patch. I'm going to be imagining Patch the real person while reading that book...which will detract from Patch's attractiveness

Oh man, Steph! What an awesome review. I'm probably going to be all egotistical and come back and read it every morning...haha. And, um, yeah. I'm glad I stuck with it for five years. Whew! There were a couple times when I almost quit (one too many rejections, I suppose). Interestingly enough, I got an email recently from a woman who read the story back in 2007, when she was an assistant to an agent (she now works as an editor). Anyway, she said waaay back then even though she had to reject the story, she always hoped I'd stick with it and make it. It's always cool to look back and know people were cheering for you even when you didn't know about it. The guardian angels of publishing, I suppose :)

What a great review :) I thought you & your readers may be interested in this interview with the fabulous Becca! http://teenswritingforteens.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/interview-with-author-becca-fitzpatrick/

Dark and both relevant and whimsical - sounds good to me! 'm not the only one to say this, but I would pick this book up based on the cover art alone - says a lot about what some good art can do for a product :)

i love the book, ive read it via the internet and i cant wait to get the book (unless of course my dad doesnt let me by yet more books) i hope they make it into a movie. because it would be a must see film. like i sed i love the book it is absaloutly amazing. it is a MUST READ book. :) :D

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Hey! For some reason, this embedded comment form makes most people click twice before the comment is processed and published. It's not you - it's just that it's a new Blogger feature with kinks and all that. (But I adore it and don't wanna get rid of it!) I removed Captcha to make the process easier. You don't have to rewrite the comments twice; just click on SUBMIT twice and it should work. If not, email me. Thanks! -Steph